Minimalist stage lighting for outdoor production.

[kgallen]

33 minutes ago, alistermorton said:

BTDTGTTS.

...which has just shot to the top of Google search terms! 😄

Edited May 21 by kgallen

[Andrew C]

BTDTGTVWTS (VERY WET)

[adam2]

Use of the very temporary outdoor "stage" will be confined to a few weeks in high summer, performances will be cancelled in the event of HEAVY rain, but are planned to go ahead in moderate showers.

Lighting will be desirable for the first half and required for the second half. One planned production is to feature a gas street lamp, this will use actual gas from a cylinder.

Punters will be advised to dress for the conditions and to bring a blanket.

[Junior8]

Until you've built the stage and installed the equipment you won't know if it works or not. Some field testing would seem appropriate here. Is  the stage covered?  For what it's worth my own view on this is simple if you expect the audience to brave the weather don't put the cast under any cover. 

[kerry davies]

11 hours ago, dmxlights said:

I am trying to find some 500w halogen floodlight fittings but nothing but led ones now. I need them for August for a festival. I am looking at led ones but need them to be dimmable but no luck yet

Try searching for halogen security lights, there are still plenty around. 

E2A right now it is just gone 8 pm in our lovely dark skies National Park, there has been an almighty thunderstorm blackening the sky and our automatic streetlights have yet to be triggered. Strikes me you might need lifebelts before lighting. 

Edited May 21 by kerry davies
E2A

[ImagineerTom]

6 hours ago, adam2 said:

Use of the very temporary outdoor "stage" will be confined to a few weeks in high summer, performances will be cancelled in the event of HEAVY rain, but are planned to go ahead in moderate showers.

Lighting will be desirable for the first half and required for the second half. One planned production is to feature a gas street lamp, this will use actual gas from a cylinder.

Punters will be advised to dress for the conditions and to bring a blanket.

Just to re-emphasise this. Regardless of whatever artistic lighting choices the show desires the “venue” is required by many many laws to have emergency lighting & safety systems in place which (unless you’re splashing some serious cash on self contained and wireless options) will require generators and infrastructure you’re currently trying to avoid. 
 

Also the “chandelier” will need some substantial rigging and infrastructure just to keep it up and safe in common uk summer weather scenarios. 
 

are you sure this event is being planned and spec’d properly because for the information provided it looks like it isn’t?

Edited May 21 by ImagineerTom

[adam2]

I do not believe that emergency lighting equipment of any normal type is required.

The lighting is split over two inverters, powered from two vehicles. Failure of either supply would leave enough lighting for safe evacuation. simultaneous failure of both supplies is so unlikely as to be an acceptable risk, comparable perhaps to the chance of a power cut immediately followed by total failure of a central battery system in a proper venue. And of course being in the open air almost eliminates risk of fire.

All stewards will have torches, customers are advised to bring a torch.

The chandelier is plastic and relatively lightweight at about 10 kilos, it will be suspended from an overhanging tree branch. A tree surgeon advises that the tree branch is sound and well able to support this load.

The stage area is not roofed. A small tented area is available for storage and changing in the dry in the event of rain.

[Dave m]

A stage weight is 12.5 kg. Fancy that hitting you?

Is this a licenced event? Insured?

[sleah]

2 hours ago, adam2 said:

almost eliminates risk of fire.

I'm glad you said "almost". I've had a reasonable quality 12v > 240v inverter let it's smoke out during a school sports day while under virtually no load. That was like a 300w inverter so not huge. Even the smallest inverters have lots of components packed with magic smoke desperate to get out!

Presumably you'll have fire extinguishers close to the power source(s) just in case.

[Jivemaster]

Sadly the local authority (town/borough/county) NOT YOU, will decide whether you need formal emergency lighting and exit signs and exit route signage and lighting. All of this will come as part of your licence application procedure. Your local chief fire officer will have authority to visit your show and call it off instantly if there is no licence or the terms of the licence have not been complied with. (Exit signs, exit route lighting, etc, etc).

If the event is on soft ground then you need to sort out stewarding for assisting any disabled people to and from their seats and transport. No DDA compliance no event, and likely prosecution.

People run events in premises with a licence simply because getting a licence each time is expensive.  

There are Standards for EXIT signs and emergency lighting and emergency exit route illumination. It's hard to test all the aspects of DIY signage and lighting, that's why people buy and install commercially made items that come with approval stickers. Your event seems "non average" so perhaps your local fire officer will consider a DIY approach or will say must comply with standards. However YOU have no authority to say you don't need emergency lighting and signage, this is a decision for a council event licencing officer and the local chief fire officer.

Edited May 22 by Jivemaster
Added

[Junior8]

Reminds me of Jun 2000 week before a Milennium Ball in marquee -J8 called in at last minute: "How many emergency exits does the space  require? Don't worry I'll work it out." Organiser "What licence?" Not suggesting that here but I still get a cold sweat from t to t.

Edited May 22 by Junior8

[Jivemaster]

" Power from duplicated inverters "

Only the more expensive inverters will allow parallel operation (mostly the bigger Victron kit) so with economy inverters some circuits will be on each inverter, so if an inverter goes out, those lights will fail.

Will the two 24v vehicles need to move afterwards? If so check that they have a separate 24v starter battery. Most people can jump start a 12v vehicle -no-one I know carries a 24v jump start. 

[Jivemaster]

A good condition 12v lead acid battery holds jut over 1 KwHr of electricity, so 24v 100AH will hold 2.4KWHr. Is this over two+ nights? How will you recharge the batteries without running the main engines for 4+ hours? A battery that has been left flat for months may only hold 10% of it's rated capacity.

[adam2]

14 minutes ago, Jivemaster said:

" Power from duplicated inverters "

Only the more expensive inverters will allow parallel operation (mostly the bigger Victron kit) so with economy inverters some circuits will be on each inverter, so if an inverter goes out, those lights will fail.

Will the two 24v vehicles need to move afterwards? If so check that they have a separate 24v starter battery. Most people can jump start a 12v vehicle -no-one I know carries a 24v jump start. 

There is no question of parallel operation, the two inverters will remain independent. Footlights on one inverter and chandelier on the other. "House" lights  half on each inverter.

Failure of either inverter will be no worse than a power cut in a proper venue that extinguishes most of the lights and leave only the emergency lights lit.

The two vehicles each have duplicated batteries of large capacity, and any subsequent failure to start would be most inconvenient but not endanger anyone.

[ImagineerTom]

Just to make this very very clear, the LAW requires you to have a separate emergency lighting system for the “venue” there is no shortcut or work around for that. There is a prescribed lux level of light that is required at specific points along any evacuation route not just within a venue but all the way to evacuation muster points. You /may/ hit that level with light spill from stage lights but if you don’t then you’re not compliant and your event is dangerous. 
 

and just to emphasise how much you don’t seem to truely understand the situation- earlier you talked about your system being similar to a building’s centralised battery backup system; emergency lighting on new builds (and any existing theatre that has had any kind of refurbishment at all) has been based on stand alone, self contained, self powered emergency lighting units for close to 20 years. Regardless of the artistic requirements of the show the rules about emergency lighting, evacuation routes, staff training & rigging safety do all apply to this show no matter how much you try to explain their need away. 

Edited May 23 by ImagineerTom